Rightful Father
by loitagirlsari
Summary: Human AU. While babysitting his neighbor's son Peter, Ari -Iceland- is involved in an accident that leaves him injured. Upon waking Ari asks for his son: Peter. Will Ari's mind destroy both himself and Peter or will he be a true father? T for cursing.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Ari is Iceland's name in this fic. This is the first fan fiction that I've ever submitted and constructive criticism is loved. Anything I can do to make your experiance reading this fic more enjoyable I'll try. I'm sorry for any OOC-ness. I hope you enjoy.**

_'__Stupid Mum and Dad having to leave just to see jerk Arthur at that stupid academy.'_ Peter Kirkland thought with an annoyed pout on his young face.

_'Ari isn't even fun. All he does is sit on the couch and read books!'_ Peter thought in indignation as he sat in front the TV playing his favorite video game. Behind him sat the subject of his thoughts, his Icelandic teenage babysitter Ari, whom his parents had appointed the task of babysitting Peter for the four days that they would be visiting Peter's older brother Arthur.

Arthur had always received more affection from his parent's than Peter due to Arthur having "Extreme potential despite his youth." As the headmaster had wrote in the letter of acceptance from 's Academy for Gifted Youth_s_ where Arthur was currently attending.

"Why don't you ever do anything fun Ari?"

Ari looked up from the book he was reading to stare down the twelve year old sitting on the floor, eyes fixed to the animated violence that flashed across the screen. "This is what I do for fun. It's quiet and it passes the time." The silver haired teenager spoke impassively as he returned to his book and continued reading.

"Seems about as boring as school to me." Peter muttered, immersed in the video game. Ari merely rolled his eyes and pretended he was somewhere, anywhere but here babysitting this obnoxious kid. It had only been two days since Peter's parents had left Ari to stay with Peter and Ari felt like he was at the end of his rope.

Ari was the only person in the apartment complex that did not know of Peter's legacy with the adults that had previously babysat for the Kirkland's and so he agreed to babysit for this tiny family.  
>Little did the reclusive Ari know that Peter had been a complete and utter terror for everyone that had previously cared for him. Everything from accidently setting the kitchen on fire to stealing ladies underwear; out of either curiosity or mischievousness no one but Peter himself knew, had been accused.<p>

Although Mr. and Mrs. Kirkland had doubted the teen's ability to handle the boy's exuberant nature; Ari's guardian and older brother Lucas assured them that Ari knew how to take care of himself.  
>And looking into Lucas's soul-less blank eyes they were calmed, and then there was the fact that everyone they knew would not look after Peter for two hours; much less stay with him for four days.<p>

"Can't we go somewhere? I'm bored with just sitting around all day." Peter told Ari while getting to his knees and scooting to turn off the game console and television. Ari marked his place in the book and sat the book on the cushion beside him.

"Where would you like to go? Nowhere too far I hope…" Ari said with his usual blank expression while Peter hoped to his feet and walked to the coat rack beside the door to the apartment's front door. Peter yanked both his and Ari's coats from the pegs and walked back to Ari in the living room.

"How about the park down the street? It's fun and my friends go there a lot so I won't get bored." Peter said handing Ari his red coat. Ari nodded in silent agreement as Peter pulled his own jacket on. Peter grinned widely and ran happily to the door of the apartment as Ari turned to get his precious book. Ari followed Peter outside the apartment into the hallway as Peter hummed happily to himself.

They walk the busy street to the park in near silence, the gray sky looming above them and the cold soon- to- be winter's wind nipping at their ears, with Peter interjecting an occasional comment as the only sound other than the growl of car's eniges on the street. Upon reaching the park Peter ran to the play ground to try to find his other youthful friends while Ari found a bench to sit down and read his book.

After five minutes of searching among screaming toddlers and small children for his friends Peter realized that his group of friends was not there and they probably wouldn't be coming that day. Peter looked idly around for a child around his own age and is met with futility. Then Peter spied Ari on the bench on the other side of the park, the quiet young man once again engrossed in his book.  
>Then Peter got a wonderful idea! He would give Ari a chance to have fun and play with the great Peter Kirkland!<p>

Peter snuck around the slide he was standing beside to get into a position where he would be behind the bench with Ari's back to him. Peter began to sneak toward the bench with what he thought was great stealth. Just a little closer and he would be able to grab the book in front of Ari's face.  
>Peter slowly stuck his hand toward the book and just as Ari's head began to turn to catch him Peter grabbed the book lightning fast out of the surprised teenager's hands and ran to the edge of the park.<p>

Ari ran after the boy yelling curses in Icelandic as he began to pant. Peter looked over his shoulder quickly and ran toward the road that was in front of the park. Peter quickly ran across the street waiting for Ari to give chase.

Ari stopped for a moment to catch his breath and jogged across the road to catch Peter. Peter let out a horrified scream and Ari felt a sharp pain and felt himself thrown as he fell into darkness.

Ari never even saw the car that hit him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: I hope you enjoy this and I'm sorry for any OOC-ness. Reviews are lovely and I love construtive critism!**

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><p>Thirty minutes after Ari arrived at the nearest hospital Peter and Lucas were silently waiting in the waiting room of the hospital. Lucas was busying filling out forms about his younger brother for the nurses to file while Peter contemplated how he had wound up in the waiting room of a hospital, waiting for news about his babysitter.<p>

After the paramedics had taken Ari away Peter walked numbly back to the apartment complex and asked one of the older ladies that had babysat for him to bring him to the hospital. At first believing that the boy was joking the woman tried to turn Peter away, but after seeing the shock in his eyes the woman began to question Peter. After telling her all that he knew the old woman agreed to bring Peter to the only hospital close to the scene of the accident: St. Sebastian's.

After arriving at the hospital and walking into the waiting room Peter found Lucas sitting in a plastic chair near the corner of the room as the old woman asked the nurse at the counter for any information about Ari.  
>After being met with a polite, 'I'm sorry Ma'am but I don't have any news about him yet. We'll be sure to tell you if we do.' From the nurse at the desk the old woman turned to Peter and let out an exhausted sigh,<br>"Sorry kid, it looks like they don't have any information about him yet. Is there any one that can stray here with you? I have to go home soon to take care of my own kids." The old woman's face creased deeply as she added, "Of course you're welcome to stay with me until your parents get back."

His parents? Peter hadn't even thought of them in the time between Ari getting hurt and himself arriving at the hospital. And going home with this old lady? Peter wouldn't even think twice about leaving the hospital, what if Ari woke up? Peter wanted to see Ari as soon as possible so he could apologize to him. Peter always liked to get things like saying sorry over with as quickly as possible, that way it would be quicker to get everything back to normal!

Remembering Lucas on the far side of the room Peter told the older woman "No… that guy over there," Peter stuck his index finger toward Lucas, "That's Ari's older brother. I can stay here with him 'til they tell us something."

Even though Peter had only seen Lucas in passing he knew that Ari lived with him and that Lucas worked menial jobs in order to take care of the both of them. Peter remembered his parent's discussing why no one knew anything about these two mysterious boys.  
>His mother had guessed that their parents had kicked them out of their family home; while his father guessed that the two boys merely wanted a taste of the world for themselves and left home. Peter himself did not care about his new babysitter's origins and never cared to ask Ari either.<p>

"Alright", the older woman said in a voice clearly expressing doubt, "Let's go ask him if he'll look after you." Peter quickly turned to walk briskly through the waiting area filled with the worried families of other patients.

Lucas looked up from his forms as a twelve-year old with an old woman in tow stopped in front of him.  
>"Hello young man, this boy says he knows you and your brother and that he would like to stay here in order to get news about his friend. I'd take care of him myself but I have my own affairs to sort out." The old woman said with as good as an imitation of a charming smile as she could muster from her wrinkled old face.<p>

Lucas said nothing but nodded and Peter sat down in the empty seat next to the expressionless young man. The old woman said goodbye and Lucas went back to completing his forms while Peter sat thinking. They stayed in complete silence as Lucas turned the forms in and Peter soon fell asleep in his chair.  
>Finally after what seemed like hours a young doctor came to stand in front of the two, Lucas gently shook Peter's shoulder to rouse him from his sleep.<p>

"Hi, I'm Doctor Jones. I've been working on Ari for the last few hours. He's quite the lucky boy. He's sustained no permanent injuries from what we can see. His MRI's were good and we could find no brain damage; of course we'll have to wait until he wakes up to see if there has been any damage."  
>Dr. Jones smiled as he spoke to the pair. The only thing that seemed strange to Peter about this doctor was the strange piece of hair that stuck straight up from 's head like an antennae. Lucas on the other hand found himself growing annoyed with the young doctor's cheery attitude.<p>

"Can we see him now doctor? And just what injuries has he sustained?" Lucas said in a tired yet clearly frustrated tone.

"He's probably still asleep but yes you can go and be with him. And I believe that he has a broken leg, some broken ribs, and some superficial cuts and scrapes. All in all he is extremely lucky not to have any injuries to his spine." Dr. Jones took a moment to beam down at Peter before turning around and saying "Let me check with the nurse for his room number and you'll be able to see him."

Lucas and Peter stood as they saw the cheerful doctor walk to the nurse, conversed for a moment and then walk back all with a cheerfully stupid smile on his young face.

"All right he's in room four-thirteen on the fourth floor, but he won't wake up for quite awhile so be prepared for a pretty long wait. Have a good day!" Dr. Jones waved as Lucas and Peter walked to the silver elevator doors near the end of the hall in front of the waiting room.

As Lucas and Peter boarded the elevator Peter began to try to make conversation,  
>"So… where are you all day? Do you have a job? Why do you and Ari live alone? Do you make a lot of money?" Peter continued to babble on asking all manner of questions about the young man beside him as the elevator stopped and they walked the whitewashed hallway.<br>At times Peter was met only with silence as his answer, other times he was meet with a quiet 'Hm' sound. Overall Peter's attempts at conversation with the cold man were failed. By the time they had found room four-thirteen Peter had fallen silent, running out of things to ask Lucas as well as not wanting to provoke the icey man.

Lucas is even more boring than his brother!' Peter thought in exasperation as the pair finally found the room and entered it. Peter gasped at the sight within.

There laid Ari on the hospital bed his leg in a cast and his chest white with bandages wrapped tightly around it. On his arms were gashes and cuts that had been stitched shut but blood covered gauze still covered some parts of his arms and legs. A patch of skin on Ari's right cheek had been torn to shreds, a flesh colored butterfly suture pulling the straining to pull the skin together.  
>Lucas sat down in the chair closest to the hospital bed and rested his face in his hands.<p>

Peter walked to the bed on the opposite side of the room and sat down looking at the clean floor below him. After only a few moments he laid down on the plastic cushions and concentrated on the door opposite to him. Minutes later Peter was deeply asleep.

At first Lucas did not succumb to sleep as easily as Peter but as the afternoon light disappeared into the dimming purple of twilight and eventually into the black night Lucas gave into sleep.  
>As Lucas slept Ari began to stir in his sleep. At first he only swiped his hand unconsciously at the IV stuck under the skin of his arm and then fluttering his eyes open and closed repeatedly. He didn't come to full awareness until a nurse with a flower clip in her long brown hair quietly walked into the room to check on him.<p>

"Oh good, your awake! You had me and some of the doctors worried with how long you slept. Hmm… can you try to speak for me? Do you want any ice?" The nurse spoke in a quiet whisper seeing the two other occupants of the room asleep.  
>Ari did not see the younger of the sleepers in the room due to being too exhausted and pained to turn his head from the side of the room that the nurse had entered.<p>

At first all Ari could do was move his jaw silently, and then after what seemed like an enormous effort he was able to stutter out to the nurse:" W-Where's Peter? My son, Peter, d-do you know where he is?"  
>Immediatly after he asked this unusual question for a boy so young, his eyes closed again and he fell into a troubled sleep until his brother and son awoke.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thankyou everyone favorited/alerted/or reviewed this story. I may have forgotten to add in the other chapters but... I do not own Hetalia. I don't own any of the characters and I don't make any profit from this story. Hetalia is owned by Hidekaz Himuraya.**

When Ari was knocked unconscious from the accident he dreamed. It was not dreams in which the longest lasting effect was a strange feeling when woken. No these dreams were the twisted memories of Ari's own childhood.

At the beginning of this first dream Ari realized he was sitting on a bed and apparently in a child's room as evidenced from the countless small toys strewn on the wooden floor. "Daddy?" a small voice said from the head of the bed. Ari turned his head quickly to see who had spoken.

"Peter? W-What are you doing here?" Ari asked uncertainly. This Peter was younger than the one that Ari had known; this Peter looked only about three or four years old. He also looked scared and vulnerable unlike his older, more cheerful counterpart. This young Peter pulled the covers he had been clutching farther up, covering his chin looking at Ari with fear-filled eyes, as if just waking from a nightmare and waiting to be comforted.

For a moment Ari again wondered to himself why Peter had called him daddy when suddenly from deep within his sub- consciousness his mind supplied the answer.

'You're his father of course. How could you forget that?' Spoke the sly voice within his mind.

Suddenly Ari's mind sent him a rush of fabricated memories: Him tucking Peter into bed, giving him a bath, kissing his scrapes of scratches, hugging Peter close as he fell asleep in his arms.

'How could I forget my own son?" Ari questioned himself.

'They tricked you… made you forget him and that you are his father.' Spoke the voice again.

Ari felt himself becoming angry 'Who? Who would want to make me forget my own son?' He questioned himself angrily again hoping for an answer. He got his answer in one of his memories.

In this 'memory' Peter was being dragged out of Ari's arms by tendrils of dark shadows. Peter was sobbing while Ari screamed in anger for the shadows to let go of his son. But the shadows managed to rip Peter from him, and as Peter was swallowed up by the darkness Ari could see faces within the evil shadows.  
>Ari saw the faces of Peter's so-called family: Mr. and Mrs. Kirkland, as well as Arthur, stood laughing at the distraught Ari from their protective darkness, Peter already unconscious in Mrs. Kirkland's shadow arms.<p>

'I-It was them? No! They can't have Peter; they don't love him like I do! They don't know what he needs, he needs me. I'm his father and I will get my son back.' Ari promised himself as the shadows furled over him dragging him into a deep, dreamless sleep where he knew no more until he woke.

Peter had woken up quite a bit earlier then he usually did on Sundays. The first thing he did was take a deep breath, inhaling the plastic he was laying on as he opened his eyes. He heard a bit of shuffling and pulled his head up from the couch, his cheek parting from the material with a sticky pop.  
>His muscles felt tight under his skin and for a moment it was difficult to get into a sitting position on the couch.<p>

When he was able to finally sit up and view the room he saw that Lukas's chair was empty. At first Peter wondered if he had left the hospital to sleep at home. But then Peter saw the door to the bathroom that had previously been open had been closed; Peter stretched and walked to Ari's bedside. The young man still had his eyes closed though at this point it seemed as if his sleep was lighter. "Ari, Ari are you awake?" Peter whispered near Ari's ear.

Ari blinked as he opened his eyes, when he was able to bring the room into focus he turned his head to see the boy next to him. "Peter… thank God you're safe." Ari's voice came out in a dry rasp as he groped for Peter's hand which was resting on the side of the bed.  
>As he found the small hand and held it tightly Peter let out a small shocked sound. "You're not mad at me Ari? Even though you got hurt while I was playing with you?" Peter asked with a worried pout on his face.<p>

Ari smiled slightly at his son, "No Peter I'm not angry at you, but you scared me a lot and you could have been hurt."

"I'm sorry Ari I-"

"We'll talk about that later. Right now I want you to sit by me." Ari said as he gestured to the space on the bed near his hip. Peter nodded slightly and went to sit on the space Ari had gestured at.  
>Ari tried to sit up taller on the bed as Peter adujusted himself on the small spot.<p>

"Peter, while I was asleep I remembered something wonderful. I remember who I really am and who you are." Peter gave Ari a confused look.

"Ari what are you talking about?" Peter asked as a feeling of worry surfaced in his stomach.

"I remembered that I'm your father Peter. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to keep them from you but now that I remember they won't get you ever again." Ari's smile had faded and his mouth was now set in a hard line.

Peter looked even more puzzled at this statement. Sure Peter sometimes disliked his parents but they were his parents and he loved them, and Ari certainly was too young to be Peter's dad.  
>"Ari what are you talking about? You're not making any sense." As Peter questioned Ari the young man gathered Peter into his arms, placing his hand on Peter's head and pressing the side of Peter's face into Ari's shoulder, being careful to avoid his various injuries.<p>

"Shhh… I know they must have tricked you too Peter. And you were too young to remember much about me. But I'm sure you remember a bit." Ari said as he stroked Peter's blond hair.  
>Peter was very worried about Ari at this point. Why was he acting so weird? If Ari was playing a joke on Peter to make him feel worse about getting him hurt then it wasn't funny.<p>

As father and son embraced a door on the side of the room opened and Lukas stepped out, turning to see his younger brother awake and apparently functioning.  
>"Oh good you're awake, I was getting worried about you." Lukas said nonchalantly as he tried to mask the relief in his voice.<p>

"Thank you but you shouldn't have worried." Ari said ignoring his brother's surprised glance when he saw who Ari was holding.  
>"I have a right to worry about my own family." Lukas said coolly, turning his dull gaze to Peter. "Peter you need to let Ari rest, he's probably not up to any more of your games for now" Lukas said with a sarcastic glint in his eyes.<p>

Peter began to try to remove himself from Ari but the injured man's arms were surprisingly strong.  
>"You can stay Peter, he can't tell you what to do. You're my child and he has no right to tell you to leave." Ari stated, his gaze turning hard and grim as it meet Lukas's slightly surprised face.<p>

"Your…son? Ari if this is some kind of joke I suggest you stop this foolishness now." Lukas stated as his face returned to its normal blank expression.  
>"Did they trick you too Lukas? Is that why you don't remember your own nephew? Or do you just not care enough about him to even try to remember?" Ari asked his brother with accusing eyes.<p>

Lukas began backing toward the door leading to the hallway. "Ari, I'm going to get a doctor now. I think you're confused and maybe a doctor can help you." Ari said as he left the room quickly.

Ari's arms tightened around Peter who had remained quiet through the entire exchange between the brothers. "Don't worry Peter… they'll never take you away from me again. Even if I have to fight them I'll still have you." Ari said quietly in Peter's ear.  
>Peter felt sick as Ari then placed a kiss on top of his head.<p> 


End file.
